To ask for recommendations to cater for two teams of rugby players

[Tigger1986]

Posting here for traffic! I do the food as a favour for my OH and his mates every other week when his rugby team have a home game (home team has to provide hot meal after the game). I don't do it to make money, ( it's a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon and I get free drinks afterwards ) but they can only afford to give me 50 quid per game to provide food for two rugby teams and the general hangers on (so around 30-40 hungry men) and I'd like to make something other than chilli or curry with rice and chips. Have access to their kitchen so plenty of room to make big pans of food and store if needed. Just any ideas really of what I can make that doesn't take me over budget :) thanks in advance :)

Spag Bol

Sausauge and bean stew with some bread

Tagine made with chicken or a veggie one is always good. I use the good food recipe for mine. Jacket potatos with a variety of fillings? plenty of carbs are what you really need after a game though your budget is tiny really - £1 a head isn't much is it. get them to give you a bit more and you can be a bit more adventurous. I think that they are lucky to get this for only £1 a head personally.

Veggie lasagnes, if they work out cheaper than meat ones (no idea about sterling costs sorry) with a few buckets of chips?

Could you do a thai style curry instead?

Or pulled pork and coleslaw in buns? Not filling enough maybe

Beef and ale stew with either fucktons of mash or with herb dumplings. You can use super cheap ale - just add a bit of brown sugar to counteract the bitterness and pad out with carrots/parsnips/other root veg.

That is a lot of (big, hungry) people to feed on not much money though.

Stew and mash would be a cheap option.
Sausage, chips and onion gravy.
Pie and mash/chips.

You'd need to go to a cash and carry to buy in the pies/sausage.
Half a sack of spuds should only cost a fiver.

Could you up your budget a bit and ask for a whip around on the day?
That would open you up to more options.

Cottage Pie

Beef Stew and Dumplings

Jeannette Orrey's Dinner Lady cookbook might be useful for you as she gives quantities for 30 for all her recipes and they are created with tight budgets in mind.

Stovies?

A Scottish dish which was traditionally made with left over roast meat but usually now made with either sausage (or lorne sausage in Scotland) or tinned corned beef.

If making with sausage, its browned off sausage and onions and then added chunks of potato and then cooked in stock and seasoning until the potatoes are somewhere between mush and chunky and texture should be not solid but soupy either. If doing with corned beef then make it with just the onion and potato and then stir through the corned beef a few minutes before serving.

Serve with chunky bread and butter or oatcakes and hp sauce as required.

Mince cobbler - mince cooked with savoury/cheesy scones on the top?

Trays of peri peri chicken thighs/drumsticks with savoury/spicy rice?

Sweet and sour vegetables if chicken costs too much?

Giant frittata type thing?

Baked risotto served with chicken drumsticks?

Thank you everyone :) they used to give more but they've only got a small budget that they have to pay referee and club fees etc that relies on subs. I didn't do the food last year and they did pie and chips or pizza that ended up costing them twice as much. When they have a sponsored game I get 90 quid so I can get extra bits and bobs to go with.